Push The World Away
by Sarcastic Innocence
Summary: 6: Embraced Unity - End: There was no longer a need to push the world away. After all, their worlds were right there.
1. Daily Routine: Green

**Push The World Away**

"Green knew that _he_ wouldn't be coming back. And without him, all Green wanted to do was push the world away."

_To me, stories of Red/Green are best read when listening to the sea of Undella Town_.

_Might be a bit confusing, or even AU. Implied Originalshipping._

**Daily Routine: Green**

Viridian City was never the pinnacle of peacefulness, but after three years spent there as its gym leader, Green never seemed to mind it that much. His days were comprised of daily routines: wake up a little before noon, swearing that he'll never pull an all nighter again, drag himself into the shower, grab something to eat and watch all his trainers, who had filed into the gym in a single line as he unlocked the door with a _click_; glancing at him with puzzled yet respectful looks as they all said "good morning" as they walked past.

They knew that Green was never a morning person, but to be late opening every day? The challengers from afar had been told by other leaders and understood; they never got to Viridian until the late afternoon anyway. But for the trainers who lived in Viridian, they seemed it to not be fair. Yes, it's true that they usually defeated the challengers with a single pokemon, but they felt as if they didn't get enough time to train on a daily basis. So they tried to stay longer, since the gym opened later, but Green told them to leave at the normal closing time. And so they did just that.

When the last trainer had left, the leader once again locked the doors and returned to his room in the gym. The place was small, only enough for a bed, dresser and desk, but Green preferred it to his room at his house. His apartment in Viridian had been neglected for months, and since Green rarely returned to that place, empty. He had originally bought it because he had always wanted a large place for himself, but realized that it was too large to live in alone. The longer he stayed there, the more painful it got, so he eventually picked up all his belongings and moved into the gym.

Piles of books and notes sat on his desk; the small room illuminated only by the lamp on the table. Green pulled out the chair and sat down, eyes scanning the books, pen tapping against the lined paper. He didn't necessarily like to help his grandfather with his research, but still did everything to keep himself busy; to keep himself from thinking of _him. _Drowning himself in work was the only way Green could find peace now_. _After all, Green knew that _he_ wouldn't be coming back. And without him, all Green wanted to do was push the world away.

Blinking to get the sleep out of his eyes, he flipped the page and glanced at the clock. Four-thirty AM. Had it been that late already? He put down his pen, not noticing that he had written nothing for the amount he had done that night, clicked off the light and went to bed.

The next morning was the exact same; waking up late, cursing his work, then rushing to get his gym opened before noon. And the cycle begins again, that is, until that night.

A young boy with a gold-and-black cap now stood before him, the first challenger to finally reach him in months. Green could see the spark in his eyes; the energy; the dedication to fight. The boy reminded Green that he was now just a mere shadow of his past – he couldn't remember how long it had been since he had lost his own spark.

And when they battled, Green lost. He watched as his Eevee rush towards his wounded Arcanine, and could see on the opposite side that the boy had begun helping his Typhlosion back up to its feet. He stood in shock for a moment, not believing that he had lost. How long had it been since he had been defeated this way? He recollected himself as he walked towards the victor, hands shoved in his pockets; a small smile on his face.

"Congratulations," he said, offering out a hand. "Here, take this – it's the Earth Badge." The metal piece in his palm sparkled under the light as the boy cautiously picked it up and placed it in his case, beaming widely.

"What will you do now?" Green asked the challenger. "Challenge the Elite Four?" The boy nodded with excitement and vigour. "And then I'll become the champion!"

"_Champion," _thought the emerald-eyed leader. "_never thought I'd hear that word ever again."_ Flickering memories of _him_ returned, but he pushed back those memories, smiled again and said, "Good luck." The boy grinned widely, and with a quick, yet loud "Thank You!" dashed out the door, to the pokemon center, no doubt.

Still surprised that he, and all his trainers, had been defeated, Green sent them home and closed the gym early. He skipped on his research that night, and for the first time in God-knows-how-long, went to bed early and had a good night's sleep.

The clock read seven A.M when he woke the next morning. The emerald-eyed leader did his morning routine, once again cursing himself as he did so, but for the first time in years, opened the gym on time. To his surprise, the trainers were already waiting for him to open the doors, and filed in one at a time with smiles on their faces.

For the first time in months, Green joined in on the training. That night, the gym stayed open late. The trainers all left at nine, thanking the leader for his time. Green couldn't remember the last time they had said that so sincerely.

The research on his desk was once again ignored that night as Green once again went to bed early, and for the first time since _he_ had left, Green dreamed.

The gym opened on time again the next morning, and for the next couple of days. The trainers stayed late every one of those days, leaving each night all wondering what that last challenger had done to make Green change so much, so soon.

But it didn't last. There were suddenly days in which the gym didn't open at all. Disappointed trainers and challengers alike were often faced with a locked gym with no warnings at all. When Green was at the gym, he seemed distant. Questions of when and why the gym was closed randomly for random periods of time were ignored. They wondered if their leader even knew what he was doing.

Of course he knew what he was doing, Green thought, as he took a lengthy trip to Pallet Town. A trip that would have only taken him a couple hours took him an entire day, as he wandered through the path, stopping every so often to stare at the trees, or lie on the grass to stare at the fluffy white clouds that drifted through the sky. What was it like up there? Was _he_ still seeing the same sky, wherever he was?

It was nearly dusk when he arrived at Pallet Town, and headed directly to his grandfather's lab. He was quickly ushered in by the professor, who sat him down and offered him a hot cup of tea. His Eevee jumped down silently from his shoulder, curling up on Green's lap, worried eyes staring up at her master.

Green's fingers curled around the cup, letting the steam gently waft over his face like a soft cloud. He stayed silent as the professor lectured him on his neglecting duties as a gym leader. His grandfather lectured him even more as Green handed him the research he had done, which, as the professor quickly flipped through the pages, had ranged from detailed notes, to fragmented sentences, to unintelligible words.

Green let the words pass through him the same way _he _would have if he were in this position, his eyes staring into his reflection in the tea with a look of indifference, which simply infuriated the professor, but said nothing more.

A gentle knock on the door caused the teen to look up slowly. A woman he recognized to be _his_ mother stood by the frame, smiling warmly. Green couldn't bring himself to look at her as she stepped into the room and sat down herself. She mumbled her thanks as the professor brought her a cup and she poured herself a cup of tea from the pot that sat between the three of them on the table.

"It's been a while, hasn't it, Green?" She asked kindly. "It's been quiet here since you _two_ have left. You should come back and visit more often." The teen glanced at her for a brief moment before returning his eyes back to his reflection. "I..." He paused, unsure if he should continue the question, already knowing the answer. "He… hasn't returned then?"

The woman smiled gently. "I know my son, he'll return someday. Maybe today; maybe tomorrow; but wherever he is now, I know he's alright."

Green shrank into his seat at her response. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop him from leaving," he said quietly. She shook her head. "No one would have been able to stop him," she laughed. "That's just how he is."

"_No, you're supposed to be angry at me!"_ Green shouted inwardy at himself. "_He's been gone for three years! You're supposed to hate me for not being able to make him stay!_" But he buried his head in his hands, pushed back the chair and, with a "Please excuse me", walked out the door, Eevee jumping off his lap and trailing silently after her master. He needed to get out of there, fast.

He called on his Pidgeot to take him somewhere, anywhere. He couldn't stand Pallet town; the lecturing of his grandfather, or the gentle voice of the woman who pretended that everything was all right. He didn't want to return to Viridian City: to his big empty apartment or the gym; a place, he now remembered, he only took over because he had been defeated by _him_, and only took up because _he_ had rejected the position as its leader. And now, he, as its leader, had been defeated as well... Where was he to go?

All Green wanted to do was push the world away.

The air was chilly as the wind whipped around him, tousling his already unkempt hair. It was late autumn already, but Green had never noticed. It was hard to tell the seasons in his city of evergreens, and since it never snowed, Green only really paid notice to the seasons by what the trainers and challengers wore as they entered the gym. For the last three years, Green had rarely ventured outside, that is, until now.

His hands dug deeper into the feathers around Pidgeot's neck as he leaned down into the bird's back and closed his eyes, letting his pokemon soar into the starry sky.

* * *

**Neverending Winter: Red**

"Alone in the cave atop Mt. Silver; on top of the world, Red watched the snow fall heavily outside. Isolated from everyone, and everything, to him, it was how he pushed the world away."


	2. Neverending Winter: Red

**Push The World Away**

"Alone in the cave atop Mt. Silver; on top of the world, Red watched the snow fall heavily outside. Isolated from everyone, and everything, to him, it was how he pushed the world away."

_Can you name all the attacks used in this chapter?_

_Man, I am terrible at writing intense battles.  
_

**Neverending Winter: Red**

There was no calendar, no clock, nothing to tell time on Mt. Silver. Days simply went by with the rise and fall of the sun. Red liked it that way; there was no one to tell him when to wake up in the morning, and when to go to bed. No one to tell him anything, really, but it was okay.

The crackling of the fire in front of him was the only source of light, warmth and sound in the cave, the flame watched carefully by Charizard in case it were to burn out. Pikachu curled up by the orange dragon, sleeping.

Alone in the cave atop Mt. Silver; on top of the world, Red watched the snow fall heavily outside. Isolated from everyone, and everything, it was how he pushed the world away. Around him was an eerily peaceful solitude; a world of neverending winter.

It had been three years since he had last been in the city; last talked to anyone. He had originally told Lance he would only be gone for a couple of days to train, but as he climbed higher and higher up the mountain, he became more and more used to the new world he had found. So much so that by the time he had reached the top, he had just settled down there. And so the days turned into weeks; into months; into years.

He remembered the day he had first stepped foot onto the snow, the crunch of ice under the foot of his first step had surprised him. His pokemon had used blizzard before, but it usually melted away instantly after a battle. It was his first time seeing so much ice and fresh snow around him, he almost forgot the cold. But the chill caught up to him soon, and so he slipped into the cave he would from then call his "home".

At the summit, it would snow occasionally, usually just light flakes of snow, drifting gently down from the heavens. However, when it snowed too hard, like days like today, Red would stay hidden inside the cave until the storm died down, which would range from mere hours to days.

He did a mental check of his provisions; the long-lasting storm had caused him to use up much of his firewood, they would need to collect more soon. His food supply should last him for another couple of days, but he should get on that, too. The bad storms as of late had kept trainers from scaling too high up the mountain and finding him, so his potions stock had been untouched.

Crimson eyes shifted from the white blur of falling snow outside to the orange glow of the fire. He recalled again the times in which he was traveling to become a trainer and was unable to find a place to stay. He'd camp outside in the wilderness with his pokemon, spending the nights under the dark sky, watching the stars on the velvet canvas sparkle as he slowly drifted to sleep. And in the chill of dawn, he would wake and continue his journey.

But the journey was now over, and he had found a place he could stay in peace. There were no other people on the mountain, and if there were, they weren't there for long; usually turning back to heal or giving up before they were anywhere near the top. He didn't need to talk to anyone, or listen to anyone. The expectations of him to do his duties as the champion had long disappeared with him. Up here, he realized, he could finally be himself.

Red was sure that if he were to leave the mountain now, no one would recognize him anyway. He had debated it within himself a couple times, but every time had decided against returning to the lower world he had come from. He had hated the stares of admiration and idolisation of everyone he had walked past from back then, simply _because_ he was the champion. And while he wasn't exactly sure how long he had been here for, he was sure that it was long enough to not only change him, but the world he had left for this peaceful place. But anyway, he didn't want to return to the world of shallow ideals and expectations.

The sky had begun to fade from its grayish white to black. Red glanced outside again, noting that the sun had begun to set, and the snowfall had begun to lighten up. Being stuck in the cave all day, the teen slowly pushed himself up to his feet and, using a hand to balance himself in case he were to fall, made his way towards the mouth, out into the snow.

The air was chilly but crisp as he took in a deep breath into the wintery sky. His breath, exhaling in a puff of white, dispersed quickly with the wind, which swirled the snow into a mesmerising dance throughout the mountain. Pikachu hopped out of the cave, into the snow from behind him, disappearing almost instantly as he took a couple of steps onto the white terrain.

Red sat down again at the mouth of the cave, deep enough to be still protected by the stone walls, yet still able to glance up into the dark sky. The contrast of the white of the snow and black of the sky never ceased to calm him, and every so often, a whisper of cold would land on his face, melting into droplets of water which rolled off his face. He shuffled around until he was lying on his back, feet facing the inside of the cave, eyes not once looking away from the sky.

He shivered slightly as a puff of wind strayed from the rest and whirled into the cave. Pikachu's ears popped up from under the snow as he wiggled free from the white and toward his trainer's side. Red absentmindedly placed a hand on his friend, which snuggled under the warmth with a content "chu".

He closed his eyes slowly and he began recalling hazy memories of his time spent in the world he had left. The calm, gentle smiles of his mother who had been so proud of her son, the smiles on the professor's face as he was declared the new champion. The understanding nods from Lance when he had told him he was leaving. He remembered most of all, the pained look in _his_ eyes as he tried to keep the teen from leaving him; the sound of _his_ usually sultry yet arrogant voice cracking as he asked him to think it over again, hoping to change his mind. Red remembered that he had pulled down the cap to shield his eyes, turned his head and walked away, feigning indifference, hoping that _he_ wouldn't notice that his own vision had grown blurry; and deep inside, his own heart was breaking as well. It wasn't going to work out, anyway. He just wanted to push the world away, and if it meant his loved ones as well, so be it.

He recalled his more talkative and energetic self that was his youth, chasing after his pokemon in the field of Route 1, laughing and smiling as they rolled around in the grass. He wondered, what had happened to that child then, and where was that child in him now? The silent, indifferent present had overtaken the past. But at the moment, he wouldn't have it any other way.

Were people still expecting him to return? Lance had most likely taken permanent position as the champion of the Elite Four by now. The professor must have moved on, and his mother... oh. his mother. Was she still waiting for him to come home?

And what about _him_? Questions flooded his mind.

Was _he_ still worrying over him, thinking of him every day? And how was he faring? Had _he_ become comfortable being the leader of the Viridian Gym yet? Was _he_ overworking the trainers? Red smiled to himself; knowing that _he_ was tough on everyone, not just on _his_ pokemon and on _himself_. And had anyone defeated _him_ yet? He laughed quietly at the thought; no, no one would be able to defeat_ him_. The Viridian Gym was the toughest gym in all of Johto and Kanto; it took even himself a while to get to that eighth gym.

Crimson irises slowly reappeared and glanced up at the sky. It was pitch black now, with gray-white spots appearing only as the snow was close enough to the mouth of the cave to reflect the light from inside. He wiped a hand against his face, now wet from the snow that had landed on him and brushed aside wet bangs from under his cap.

Tapping his Pikachu beside him gently, he picked up the yellow rodent and returned deeper into the cave; beside the fire. Slipping down to the ground, he leaned against the curled body of Charizard, as usual, thankful that he had decided to bring the fire pokemon along for his training.

When he woke up the next morning at dawn, the mouth of the cave glittered brilliantly with frost. Blinking the sleep from his eyes, Red made his way toward the opening, staring at the sky in awe. The sky in the east glowed a soft tangerine; fading to a slate gray as dreamlike purple clouds hovered in the air. Red smiled contentedly to himself; he would never get tired of the frigid morning skies.

He sat cross-legged on the snow and watched as the sun rose higher into the air, spreading the tangerine skies over until the heavens brightened into an icy blue. The clear sky mornings were rare, and Red wanted to take advantage of it, so he called all his pokemon over to collect firewood and some foods that grew on the mountain.

The day went by productively and Red returned to the cave before the clouds moved in again. By the time everything they had scrounged that day had been organized in the cave, snow had again begun to fall. Red stepped back outside to gaze at the light white clusters that drifted from the heavens.

The soft crunch of snow under boots approaching surprised the crimson-eyed teen. He turned around to gaze at the newcomer – a boy with a gold-and-black cap huddled closely to a fairly tall beast with flames on its back. Red gazed quizzically at the creature; his pokedex had run out of battery ages ago – now a mere contraption in which Red used, at most, as a makeshift mirror. He could tell it was a pokemon though: the way the boy had first turned his head to the being beside him, the way the being itself had nodded and replied with a low grumbling sound.

A sea of questions flooded Red's mind, but after years of solitude, he found it hard to put his thoughts into words. So Red stayed silent and stared at the boy blankly as he babbled on about a place called New Bark Town and his adventure, excited that he had finally found another soul on the expansive mountain. That is, until the boy mentioned something about the Elite Four. Red blinked at the two words, slowly putting together the phrase with the fact the boy was on the mountain in the first place. Red smiled to himself, wondering how the person opposite of him, barely out of boyhood, was able to defeat not only _him_, but the Elite Four and its dragon Champion as well.

Wordlessly calling for Venusaur to summon a frenzy of plants towards the boy, Red concluded to himself, he must test him. The beast beside the gold-eyed boy flicked his head towards the grass creature and picked up his master, swiftly dodging the flurry of thick stems and waxy green leaves that had now burst through the snowy ground. The fiery beat gently landed a few feet away, only letting go of the boy when he had steadied himself on his own two feet.

The boy grinned as the beast of his stepped forwards with a roar. Red could hear that the boy's cheerful, almost bubbly tone in his voice had been replaced with seriousness as he accepted the challenge, calling for the beast, whom Red now knew was named "Typhlosion" to burn away the vines and Venusaur with a fiery blast.

Venusaur fell slightly forwards as the flames dissipated, and Red smiled inwardly at himself. Blastoise was called up next, who soaked Typhlosion with a strong blast of water from his cannons, knocking the fiery beast against the wall of the mountain, where it fell, slumped over.

A large sunflower pokemon known as "Sunflora" was called next by his challenger, who swiftly felled Red's water pokemon in retun.

Lapras; Politoed. Snorlax; Sudowoodo, Togekiss. Charizard; Ambipom. Pikachu...

They faced each other now; one pokemon each. Sparks crackled across Pikachu's red cheeks as he crouched down to dash into an electrifying tackle, curling up at the last second before impact in hopes of preventing maximum recoil damage. The monkey-like pokemon, hit with the brunt of the attack, whirled around to gain momentum, flicking his tails as they hit the electric rodent; one, two.

Pikachu dodged the second hit; then returned, charging at the Ambipom so quickly he disappears. But the attack misses as a circle of the monkeys formed around the electric-type, who worked quickly to dispel the illusions; his tail glowing a yellow-white as he reached the final one.

One of the hands on Ambipom's tail caught the attack, the other pressing against the chest of his opponent as a smaller hand reached up to slash at the now struggling Pikachu. The small yellow pokemon is then thrown up into the air, the purple pokemon jumping up behind him to attack him twice again.

Pikachu fell back down into the snow, motionless. Red stood equally as motionless, his mind frantically trying to figure out what had happened. The monkey pokemon hopped back to his partner, cheering as he climbed up to sit on the boy's head.

The golden-eyed boy took a step towards Red with a smile. The cheerfulness in his voice had returned, thanking the raven for an exhilarating battle, but Red didn't hear any of it. He had lost himself in his own mind, unable to believe that he had lost, at the same time, understanding why the boy had managed to defeat the Elite Four. He picked up Pikachu and took a few steps backwards, once again, staring blankly at the other, who had now begun talking about how he had been surprised that such a strong trainer had been up on the mountain all along. Red looked up at the sky, wondering how everything would end. The red-eyed boy was saved nearly instantly though, as a strong gust of wind blew through the range. It kicked up the snow up from the ground; blending it with the heavy falling snow that still fell.

_Even if I were to push the world away, the world was still on my side_, Red thought as took two more steps back, letting himself fall as his feet stepped over the edge.

* * *

**Lonely Island: Green**

"The waves of the ocean calmed him, letting all his worries; fears; thoughts escape his mind. Here, the world - his world, was pushed away."


	3. Lonely Island: Green

**Push The World Away**

"The waves of the ocean calmed him, letting all his worries; fears; thoughts escape his mind. Here, the world was pushed away."

_Sorry about the delay! Finals was intense and then hardcore word blocked at the ending, so it might be terrible. But please enjoy!_

_Surfing Rhydons actually do exist. And they're awesome. Was going to use a Taurus, but since Green actually has a Rhydon..._

**Lonely Island: Green**

Cinnabar Island was a desolate place; originally a booming island town with technological advances and the Cinnabar Gym, it was now a wasteland of burnt ash and cooled magma. After the volcano had erupted, destroying the island and stripping it of its former glory, nothing had been rebuilt except for a Pokemon Center. After all, the residents of Cinnabar Island had long moved away. The only ones on the island now were the nurse and her five associates.

The island was completely silent, aside from the occasional swish of waves as they lapped up against the shoreline. He sat along the rocks haphazardly, eyes dull and empty, watching the crystal tide come in and out, in and out. Occasionally the water would flow and touch his shoes, but he didn't notice.

"_You can't sulk like this forever, you know,"_ Leaf had said to him as she leaned against the gym doors, irritated that he had disappeared without notice again, preventing his entry into his own home until he heard her out. _"I know you care about _him_, but you need to move on!"_

He ignored her, turning on his heel and walking away as she continued, shouting now: "_You'll just end up breaking yourself more, Green!"_ He could hear the girl's voice wavering now, and he knew she had probably slumped to the ground, _"I don't want to lose anyone else."_

But he had left anyway, trying to block her sobs from his hearing.

He had wandered through the routes like he had done as a child – up Route Two, through the forest and into Pewter- where he paid a short visit to Brock- then into Diglett's Cave and out Route Eleven; east to the junction of Routes Twelve and Thirteen.

Green stopped, debating if he should go visit the Pokemon Tower in Lavender Town. "_Perhaps_," he agreed with himself, _"since I haven't been there in a while."_

So he was surprised to see that the graveyard had been converted into a radio tower, took note of the House of Memories and left the noble town as quickly as he had arrived.

The emerald-eyed trainer wandered back down Route Twelve to Thirteen; through Fourteen and Fifteen; into Fuchsia to simply restock on supplies and out to the sandy trail of Nineteen. He watched as the waves gently caress the soft sand of the shore… and had an idea.

He called out Rhydon – why not? He always was fascinated at the fact that the rock beast was able to surf; let alone float, was amazing – to take him over the water towards the Seafoam Islands to the derelict island of Cinnabar.

The cerulean blue of the sky started to fade to gray – the sun had begun to set; splashing a golden tangerine hue over the horizon. Green sighed. Another day had passed; making it a total of eight days since he had arrived – eight days of staring out into the sea, wondering what and how he should deal with, well, everything. Perhaps it was time he changed locations; the nurse was beginning to get upset at his extended stay at the Pokemon Center, but feigned a smile as he had returned back indoors. He knew that once he retired for the night, in a room away from the main lobby area, the women would complain to theier colleagues about how the teen had overstayed his welcome.

So Green remained outside, hoping that the nurse would be off-duty by the time he decided to head back inside.

A hand gently tapped the trainer on the shoulder. "Excuse me, are you…" the voice trailed off, the speaker unsure if they should continue.

The emerald-eyed trainer turned to look the speaker up and down. A brown-eyed girl crouched beside him, hands on her knees. The majority of her pigtailed brown hair was hidden under a large white hat and she wore a red shirt under overall shorts.

Green laughed softly as he looked back out into the ocean, trying to find an excuse to why he was on this island. It was easy enough – he knew perfectly why he was drawn to the place. Like Cinnabar, he had lost everything – his rank as a champion, his pride, as a gym leader, as well as in himself, and most importantly, his world.

"A volcano erupts, and just like that, a whole town disappears," he mused partly to himself. The Viridian Gym leader turned back to the girl. "You're here because you want to battle me, don't you?" The girl nodded.

"They told me you haven't been in Viridian lately, and to try to find you elsewhere," she replied. Green sighed at her reply, inwardly cursing the gym and his trainers for ratting him out. As a leader, he had the duty to accept all challengers, but there were times he had declined them because they were not ready. She may be one of them.

"If you want to battle me... for real, show me how many Kanto Badges you've got," Green replied, secretly hoping that the girl was missing one or two badges; hoping that he did not need to return home so soon.

The leader cursed again as she silently replied by opening her case, revealing seven badges. He feigned a smile, secretly slightly relieved that at least someone had cared enough about him to search for him, even if it were just to get another badge. Perhaps he should really just give up and go home; nothing had changed, or would change, anyway. As much as he hated to admit it, he really did miss home, and in a sense, his daily routine. The time on the island was calm; too calm for his liking.

_Perhaps it really is time to move on…_

"If you want to battle me… for real" he repeated, "come to the Viridian Gym." Green paused with a small sigh. "I'll be waiting for you."

Without waiting for her reply, the leader called for Pidgeot to take him back home, where he silently unlocked the doors to the gym. He flicked the lock behind him, sliding down the doors as he buried his head in his hands.

All he wanted to do was push the world away.

The next morning was welcomed by loud banging and shouts of "I know you're in there, Green, now open the damn door". Green found himself lying on the floor, slumped against the gym doors, Eevee staring up at him as she nuzzled his hand. The green-eyed trainer picked her up as he fumbled up to his feet to unlock the door.

"What do you wa—" he was cut short as the person on the other side grabbed the leader by the shirt. Green recognized him as the challenger from before – the one who had easily defeated him. But why was he here? Shouldn't he be challenging the Elite Four? His questions were quickly answered when the boy began shouting.

"Where the hell have you been?" The boy demanded, his voice a roar of impatience. "I've been looking for you all week to tell you something important and all everyone could tell me was, 'Oh, he's gone off somewhere again as usual'? You're a leader, take some responsibility!"

The Viridian leader looked away, his eye catching a glimpse of the girl who stood wide-eyed behind the ultra-ball capped trainer. Green placed both hands on the boy's arms, gripping them tightly until the other let go.

"I have a battle with the young lady behind you. Could you please not storm into my gym as if you own the place? I'll listen to what you have to say afterwards." He tilted his head, motioning for the girl to enter. She nodded, following him and taking position.

And so, for the third time, Green lost. He gave his challenger the badge, congratulated her with his mini speech, then turned to the boy who had previously defeated him.

"So? What did you want to talk about?"

The golden-eyed boy looked up, hands resting on his Togekiss, whom he had been fussing over for the duration of the battle.

"Huh? Oh, right," the boy replied, pausing for a moment. "There was this really strong trainer I battled up at the top of Mount Silver…"

Was it _him_? Green couldn't believe it. Three years after _he_ had left – three years of silence and worry, and he was still there; still alive! It was a lie, no, it had to be. But what if it were true; what if he really was still there? He had to find out. He had to go see for himself.

Green dashed out the door before the boy could even finish his sentence.

"…But he fell off the cliff and vanished afterwards."

* * *

**Isolated Civilization**

"Though he returned to Viridian after his long search, he still pushed the world away. After all, he was still gone."


	4. Isolated Civilization

**Push The World Away**

"Though he returned to Viridian after his long search, he still pushed the world away. After all, _he_ was still gone."

_Sorry if he seems a little OOC. I'm sure he really does sometime question why he's left everything, though. __Or even feel guilty._

_Time for a slightly different narrating style. Since the conclusion will be coming up soon, some things need to be explained before then._

**Isolated Civilization**

Crimson eyes fluttered slowly open, his eyes taking a moment to adjust to the strange lighting that surrounded him. He found himself lying on his back, nestled in something soft. The surroundings looked familiar though – neutral walls with bookshelves crammed with Pokemon books; a computer on a desk in the corner… it took him a moment to realise it was his own house. The raven pushed himself slowly up into a sitting position as he continued to look around the room. It had been years since he had begun his journey, and though he had gone home to visit a few times before becoming champion, he had never realised that his room was always spotless when he returned. His books – ones he had pored over; lying on the floor of his room, memorising every page until the corners were dog eared and the spines were worn- were organised in order of author on the shelves; his desk and computer monitor without a speck of dust.

Pikachu, who was curled up on the blanket above his stomach stirred to Red's movement. He slowly looked up at his trainer before perking up his ears excitedly. The little mouse cried happily before dashing off the bed and down the stairs, leaving Red to his own musings.

'_Why am I here_?' He thought. The raven sunk into the pillows and closed his eyes, trying to remember what had happened after the battle with the boy.

He had picked up Pikachu and then fell… but what then?

The faint yet cheerful sing-song voice of Mr. Mime was almost drowned out by the whistling of the wind and the patter of rain outside. '_Wind…'_ Red thought, '_sounds much different here';_ he had almost forgotten.

Yet the wind had reminded him of something – through hazy memories, he vaguely began to remember floating upwards as he fell. His arms holding on tightly to something sleek yet warm. The sound of beating wings and a roar. But Red can't really remember. The sound of the boy shouting, but his words were whipped away by the wind. He didn't remember seeing anything at all.

The blanket was already up to his neck, but the teen tugged it even closer. Being back in his room made him feel suddenly alone.

But he wasn't alone for long. Pikachu bounded back up the stairs; a woman he recognised as his mother and a familiar-looking man in tow. His mother placed a tray on the table – in it was a steaming bowl with a spoon and three cups. She picked up two of the cups, handing one to the man and one to her son.

Red stared blankly at the two of them before shuffling back into his seated position. His fingertips tingled as he reached out to grasp the cup, almost dropping it as the heat from the ceramic met his fingers. Luckily his mother had not let go; the cup merely wobbled slightly, its contents threatening to spill out.

"Well, I'd assume that would mean he's all right, if he can still feel it," the man said, taking a sip from his. He pulled a chair from the corner and placed it beside the bed, motioning for the woman to sit down.

They both smiled warmly at him; his mother spoke first. "We're glad you're all right." The man nodded. Crimson eyes stared blankly at the two of them, brushing over the man and settling on his mother's hands. '_Had she always been that thin?_" He thought it was just his vision at first, but he noticed that she was shaking.

A soft sob escaped her lips and her voice wavered as she spoke. "You're back, you're really back." She placed the cup on the floor before wrapping her arms around him. "_He_ brought you back…" he could feel her trembling as her sobs grew louder.

The man Red now remembered as the Professor now looked at Red seriously. "We're relieved you're safe though – you've been sleeping for over a week now." The raven tilted his head slightly, prompting him to continue. "We were surprised when you showed up passed out on Charizard; it's amazing he knew how to get back here without your instruction!"

Ah, so that was what he was holding onto in his memories.

"He was tired, but still managed to bring you back here. All your other Pokemon were exhausted too, not to mention you yourself. What happened?"

Red didn't answer. His eyes shifted to Pikachu, who stared worriedly at him on his lap.

The man took another sip from the cup before speaking again. "And_ he_ was here a while back. It looked like _he_ was going to cry when he talked about you, and just disappeared that night. I've been getting calls about _him_ not going to work, and _he_ won't pick up at all. Have you seen _him_ lately?"

Crimson eyes widened. Red froze.

/

"_Mount Silver?"_

_Emerald eyes reflecting crimson. A wild grin._

"_Sounds fun. When do you want to go? Maybe this weekend or…"_

"_I know it's for training. But I have to open the gym everyday, right?"_

_A laugh._

"_I don't think the trainers would let me do that. Even if I tell them I'm going with _you_."_

_A gentle kiss on the jawline._

"_Well, let's go on the weekend then."_

But he really didn't – no, he couldn't - wait that long.

_A fist slamming into the wall. A voice of anger._

"_I thought we were going on the weekend."_

"_How can you not wait? It's three days. And we can stay there for longer now that I told everyone I'm going already."_

_A pained sigh._

"_Think this through. You're going to be there by yourself if you go now, but I already said that I wanted to go with you."_

_Arms around him._

"_Don't go."_

I'm sorry.

/

The raven shook his head before gently prying his mother off him. He rushed down the stairs, picking up his belongings which were all sitting in the living room. Pikachu looked energetic, meaning everyone else must have recharged by then. The professor and his mother followed him to the door, where Red was pulling on his shoes, a bag by his side.

"Where're you going, Red?" His mother asked worriedly.

Red opened his mouth to speak, but he still couldn't find his voice. The professor smiled and nodded knowingly. "Have a safe trip; I know you'll find _him_."

Red's mother simply shifted her gaze between the two of them quizzically, turning to the professor as she watched her son walk out the door, hoping for an answer.

She hadn't caught the words, but the professor had seen it clearly. He could see it in Red's words and in his eyes.

/

It was short; it was sudden; it was more of a demand than a request.

_Emerald eyes widened in shock. A sharp intake of breath followed by a choking cough. He swiftly returned the green mug in his hand onto the table while trying to clear the coffee from his throat; managing to sputter out a couple words through his coughing fit._

"_You want to… me … _What_?"_

_Emerald reflected in crimson; crimson shining in emerald. A long silence, save for the soft ticking of the clock on the wall. Gentle sunlight streaming in through the gaps of the curtains, casting soft glowing streaks on the almost golden wood floor. _

_Silence._

_A deep breath; a long sigh._

_Emeralds grow closer. A hand reaching closer, unsure of the consequences of touch. Black fingerless-gloved hands move over those bare, bringing cool fingertips to meet warm skin by the neck._

_A beating pulse. Beating strong; beating fast. His own usual quietness doesn't mask his anxiety; his anticipation. Nor does his face, a light flush creeping over his pale skin. He tries to look away, but emeralds catch it nonetheless._

_A smile; a soft chuckle._

_Warmth._

_/  
_

Viridian City was within a half-day's travel. A fairly short route of steppes and trees, Red breezed through the path, seemingly in a daze. He had traveled through the roads so many times before, anyway. However, this time was slightly different.

He did not stop to stare at the trees, or lie in the grass to stare at the clouds like he would have done almost every time before. He was never really in a rush then to get to Viridian, since _he_ was always waiting. But this time, he really wanted to get there as soon as possible.

There were four trainers on the route today, but none of them approached him – they were busily preoccupied in battling each other, after all. A Pidgeot; a Jynx. An Alakazam; an Ivysaur.

Red cast them a quick glance and moved on.

Before long, an expanse of evergreen trees and emerald roofs was spread before the raven haired trainer. Pikachu hopped off his shoulder and darted towards the right, turning around every so often to make sure his master was following.

The little mouse stopped in front of a familiar building Red remembered as "the apartment". Red nodded and pulled one of the doors open, letting himself inside; Pikachu climbing back to his shoulder as he did so.

The elevator opened with a soft "ding" as the doors opened before him, seemingly welcoming the trainer, who stepped in tentatively. He stared at the lines of buttons on the side panel, unsure which to press. Luckily, a flash of yellow shot out from his shoulder, lighting up one of the numbers. The doors closed.

A vaguely familiar sensation of lift welcomed the raven accompanied with the soft hum of machinery.

The elevator opened on the eighth floor. After a brief glance around, Red stepped out. Down the hallway. 842.

A gloved hand reached into his bag, pulling out a trio of keys, clinking together as they were freed from their containment. Fingers glazed over them lightly.

There was a red key, for his own home. It was the first key he had ever been given, from the first day he had left home to become a pokemon trainer. He was still a child then, but was delighted to be able to hold something so important and special.

A blue-violet one for the Indigo Plateau. He was given it when he became the champion, so he would be able to come and go as he pleased. But it was no longer of any use to him, after all, Lance was the champion now. He doubted that the key would still work, after all this time.

Finally, an emerald key. Red stared at it for a brief moment before unlocking the door.

A familiar scene welcomed him – a scene he had seen almost daily every day before he had left for the mountain.

Sunlight filtering through the half-covered windows onto the golden-blond floors. A white sofa with a dark brown coffee table. Two mugs – one red and one green sitting on it, empty.

Other than the furniture, the place was empty – gone were the photos, the books and the belongings.

Red turned to the bedroom. The bed was still there, the pillows gone. A light, but warm blanket covered the bed. He the checked the closets. Empty. The drawers. Empty.

The bathroom, the kitchen. Everything that used to be there was gone. The refrigerator and the pantry storing nothing in its shelves. Apart from the mugs. Everything had disappeared. The crimson-eyed trainer searched throughout the entire house, and before he knew it, the sun had begun to set. Red lay spread out on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

His stomach growled. He sat up, frowning. Usually he would just walk into the kitchen to make himself something, but house was empty, so there was nothing to eat. He'd have to go out.

It won't be for long, he assured himself. Maybe just something from the mart, and he could eat it when he got back.

The door clicked as he shut it behind him, locking automatically. Back down the elevator and out the door. Down the street and into the mart. Something small and light to eat. Cash –from his mother- paid, receive change. Red walked out the doors, food in hand without saying a word. Not now. Not yet.

Back to the apartment, the teen stopped in front of the mailboxes. He had remembered when envelopes and other pieces of paper used to stick out of the metal case – he was able to get them out with the key.

But there was nothing. Red shook his head as he closed the box, and returned to the elevator. Back up to 842.

As he opened the door this time though, he heard a door open from beside him. A man in his mid twenties stared at him quizzically.

"You… new here?" he finally asked after looking the trainer up and down.

Red stared at the man, unsure of how to answer. After a long pause, he shook his head.

"Oh? Is that so. I've never seen you around here before." The man glanced at him, receiving a puzzled look in return. "Well, I mean, the guy who used to live here moved to the gym a while back, so no one's been here since so…" he paused, taking a breath before he continued, "I figured someone else would move in instead. No?"

_'Gym?'_

_'No one?'_

Red shook his head again. The man seemed to have caught onto his silent query though, and nodded in reply. "Yeah. He used to come back really late at night when he was still around. Seems like he moved all his stuff out, when was it, a couple months ago? Hasn't been back since."

Another pause.

"Ah, but if you're looking for him, he's not around right now. We're not actually sure where he is, but the fact that he's still gone is starting to become a problem. With the gym and such, y'know? If you know where he is and can get him to come back, that'd be great."

Red stared blankly at the man before nodding slowly. He walked through the doorway of room 842 and closed it behind him. The door clicked shut.

Dinner alone at the table. The barely audible buzz of fluorescent lights in the kitchen was the only sound present in the entire apartment.

Kitchen lights off. Into the living room. Continue into the bedroom, onto the bed he had been in many times before.

Red sat cross legged on the bed, the blanket draped around his shoulders. He probably looked more like a hermit here in this room than up in the mountains, he thought, but it would be all right.

His mind drifted. The memories of the tangerine and lilac skies, the crisp chill of the early mornings and the orange-fire glow of late nights.

The soft drifts and heavy clusters of snow. The impenetrable frost which surrounded him, turning his mountain world into almost a fantasy.

But still, he thought, having a place to return to, this is nice too. He pulled the blanket around him tighter. Warmth and silence enveloped him. Aside from the ticking of the clock, the apartment was quiet.

Red glanced at the clock; it was really getting late. Perhaps it was about time to go.

Shuffling around until the blanket would not touch the floor when he stood, the raven and his Pikachu left the room.

The stars gazed down from their perch, surrounded by a wall of evergreen. Red leaned against a wall, still wrapped in the blanket, Pikachu curled up on his lap, black-tipped ears poking out of the soft covers.

Crimson eyes stared up into the sky, blinking slowly. He had forgotten that such a sight could be seen, even here. He had forgotten how much he had really left behind.

Had it really been worth it? Was it the right thing to do?

He recalled the moment he had decided to leave. Perhaps at that moment, it was. Anything to get away, anything to free himself from the world he had been thrust into – one of expectations and demands. He just wanted to live the way he liked.

And really, he thought, perhaps his life really wasn't that bad compared to _his. _Red recalled all the days where he –already an early riser- would wake and _he _would already be up, and all the dimly-lit nights _he_ spent researching for the professor.

Still, _he_ would smile and suggest a day to go to the forest, or to the beach. Sometimes, especially in the spring, they would even go to the Safari.

Red's vision grew warm and hazy. _He _had… they had… done so much together. Red had refused to spend his nights at the Indigo Plateau, so _he_ had given him a place to stay. Breakfast would always be on the table when he woke up, and dinner when he returned. Always home-cooked.

And _he_ would be sitting at the table, or on the sofa, green mug in hand.

Red mug on the table.

The trainer took a deep breath, exhaling with a faint puff of smoke.

He had traveled so much and for so long, learning about the world he was then in and wanted to be away from. Was it possible to get away from it all? If so, how?

No. The world was perfect as long as _he _was there, he concluded to himself. _He… _was his world.

Yet still, though he returned to Viridian after his long search, he still pushed the world away. After all, _he_ was still gone. And so was his world.

He would sit here and wait until it returned. However long it took. After all, his world had waited for him. Waited. And waited. And waited.

He shook his head and shut his crimson eyes, trying to work out what things he wanted- no, needed to say to that world. Slowly, silently. The words came, but without sound.

_I'm… sorry._

_I… should have known. You… were… you are… so important… to me._

Apologies. Confessions. Things that should have been said years ago but weren't. They all streamed silently from his lips. His mind flowed with words, with things he desperately wanted to say; desperately wanted _him_ to hear.

But still, he noticed, silence._  
_

Had his self-approved isolation really affected himself so much - so much his voice refused to resonate? He tried again.

"... sor...ry.."

".. lease… for…"

"...lease…co... back…"

From each sentence he tried to say, he heard a voice more and more. Until finally...

"I… miss… you..."

He'd done it.

The voice was weak, quiet, and unfamiliar to him. It wavered and cracked from years of uselessness, but he could tell it was his own.

He sighed, head tipped back against the wall, eyes opening slowly to gaze up again at the sky. But he didn't see that.

Instead, a pair of bright emeralds stared down at him.

* * *

**Forgotten World**


	5. Forgotten World

**Push The World Away**

_Going from K+ to T, just in case._

_The legal drinking age in Canada is 19, so I'm using that._

**Forgotten World**

Mount Silver was a world restricted only for the elite. Only those approved by Professor Oak were provided not only directions, but more importantly, approval to even step foot in the surrounding area. It had to be – the terrain was rough; the conditions unpredictable. Rarely did anyone make it past the halfway point; even less made it to the top.

A rumor of a phantom on the mountain had been floating in and out of the elite circles every so often, though no one who had gone up recently could actually confirm it. So the stories that drifted of a silent ghost who challenged and defeated all the trainers who successfully scaled the mountain remained a mystery. When did the rumor begin? Green couldn't remember.

Like many of the other elite trainers, he had also attempted a couple times to scale the mountain himself: but every time, either his time limit or unforeseen circumstances forced him back down. 'It would have probably been easier to make it up to the top with _him'_, he had thought, but it was now too late.

He would be lying if he said he expected something of this sort. No, not at all. No one could deny that _he_ was emotionally distant –very much so, and even to someone like himself, Green mentally added- and tended to disappear every so often, but it was never to a place like this, or for this long.

From the day _he_ walked out the door, Green waited. The days turned into weeks; into months. He waited. Tousled hazelnut strands swished slightly in the air as he shook his head finally one day and realisation kicked in.

_He_ was gone. _He_ was not coming back.

Did something happen? Green began joining trainer circles to ask about Mount Silver. Every person he asked about the mysterious mountain shook their head at his question, "_No, there was no one up there like that_."

"But it can't be. I'm sure that's where _he_ went." Disbelief. Every so often Green would venture up the mountain himself and return with nothing but disappointment. Regret.

Twelve months turned into a year. Green kept looking. But deep inside, his fear began to grow more and more.

Emerald eyes widened as he shook his head yet again. No. _He_ can't be dead. There was no possible way. Green laughed weakly to himself. Maybe _he_ had not gone to Mount Silver after all. Maybe _he_ had found a new world; a new life; a new love.

And the more he thought of this, his vision would begin to warm and blur – before he knew it, tears would involuntarily fall and land on his desk; his hands; his work.

And suddenly one day, the rumor of the phantom began. A wraith in the snowy part of the mountains, battling the trainers who came across him; defeating them almost instantly. No one was able to see the phantom clearly; hidden by the heavy snow or at times, hail, the trainers already had enough on their hands to deal with as it was. The threat of being pelted by the ice or the risk of freezing to death in the inhumanely frigid temperatures kept them from staying in the snowy landscape for long.

Those asked about the phantom were unable to identify exactly _where on_ the mountain they had run into it; "The white just throws you off," they all had said. "I have no idea where I was". Green was sure he had found more questions than answers.

How were they all so sure that it was not human? He had asked. The other trainers had all looked at each other for a moment before answering. "No one could survive in a place like that, right?" they asked in return. Green had to agree.

And so he returned home, defeated. He flopped onto the white couch he had bought - with _his_ approval- and sunk into it, covering his face with his hands. Just being in this room was painful. The memories tugged at his mind and at his heart; try as he might; he was unable to erase them from his being. They were vivid, "as if it were just yesterday".

"I don't like staying there," the teen had said matter-of-factly, when he had showed up at Green's apartment unannounced. The black-haired trainer sitting across from him at the kitchen table was always slightly fidgety - the emerald-eyed gym leader had noticed the silent one's unusual overshuffling that day, but had paid it no mind, waving it off submissively as a mere natural action; nothing more. He smiled. Who would he be to not accept his long-time rival, but more importantly, best friend as who he was?

"If you want, you can stay with me here," he replied. "Though," he paused, glancing out into the living room, "it's still kinda empty right now. At least now I have a reason to actually get things for the place." Another smile.

After a long debate –in which Green easily lost to his mostly silent best friend, suddenly turned roommate, of course-, they settled on the white pull-out sofa for the living room instead of a guest bed. Not like there was a place to put the guest bed anyway in that small apartment, but Green and insisted that he would figure it out. He had laughed and semi-joked about not even needing another bed in the first place, since the one he had bought for himself was so large, but stopped when he saw an expression he had never seen before flicker across his friend's face.

Perhaps secretly Green had really wanted things to turn out that way. They had been close, no, best friends for a while now; and ignoring the bitterness of the past in which Green was, well, for a lack of better description, a major douche towards his now best friend, they had done so much together. They had camped together many times, sharing a large sleeping bag as they lay under the stars. Lessening the price on meals by having two forks digging into the same plate. As friends.

But he could not help himself but smile as he saw, day after day, his friend stretched out, asleep on the sofa, bed not pulled out, blanket on the floor. Within two weeks, the other teen had finally given in and agreed to use the other half of Green's king-sized bed. As friends.

_As friends_, Green had tried to assure himself over and over again as time went by and more and more days were spent living with the black-haired trainer. He was a fairly early riser, but Green forced himself to wake even earlier to be able to see his sleeping face. He forced himself from touching his friend; unless it was the shoulder or the back, at least. He had made a mistake before and was always worried he would, this time, actually accidentally do something of the sort again, though the urge to want to, rather, need to, grew.

Green had kissed his best friend once years before. There was no denying it. Half curiosity, half desire, it had been a strange and heartbreaking experience. Lips against lips, that was all it had been, but even then, he had watched those breathtakingly beautiful crimson eyes widen in confusion before he was pushed away. Green watched his first and only love, his usually expressionless face covered in a look of disbelief and something else, turn around and run away. When Green caught up to the other boy, he had lied and said it was an accident, that he had no idea what went through his mind to make him do something like that. He was eventually forgiven; incident put in the past.

Now, he really had no obligation to please –or serve, for that matter- the other teen, really. Just him being there- in his room- on his bed- in his clothes would, in any other circumstance, have gone way past the definition of "just friends", he figured. But watching him stumble slowly into the kitchen, crimson eyes still hazy from sleep as he would mumble "… good morning" while he sat down at the already breakfast-covered table made everything Green did for that moment worth it. And Green would smile in return, green mug filled of coffee already in hand. "Good morning."

And as friends – or rather, people who live together- , do, every so often there would be a disagreement; a fight; a petty argument. He remembered how much it had pained him to see his best friend sometimes ignore him for days; and though he would insist to Leaf that it was everything _but _a "lover's quarrel", he always wished it was that. But still, even during those times, he would still sleep beside Green and wake up every morning to breakfast on the table.

So the peaceful yet tense days for Green continued. Until one day, the very unexpected happened.

Green had been sitting on the sofa reading a book when he was approached by a "we need to talk". The line, to anyone else, would have come off as cliché, but when spoken by his under spoken roommate, it called for slight concern. He looked up. The teen standing before him was, once again, more fidgety than usual, long pale fingers playing subconsciously with the bottom hem of his- Green's- slightly oversized black shirt. Green blinked, surprised, and placed his book onto the coffee table, picking up his mug. He took a sip before speaking. "Well? What do you need to talk about?"

There was a long pause. He figured it would have something to do with his job, or perhaps he was there to voice a complaint? Green had always noticed that when his roommate was around –and awake, he added; that was important-, those crimson eyes of his would follow him everywhere. His guesses were cut short when the black-haired one finally opened his mouth and spoke.

It was short; it was sudden; it was more of a demand than a request.

"Please go out with me," he had said.

Emerald eyes widened in shock at the sentence. Green broke into a choking cough, trying to clear the liquid from his throat – he had gasped halfway through another sip of his coffee. He swiftly returned the green mug in his hand onto the table, taking deep breaths; not just to rid his windpipe from the drink, but as well to calm his pounding heart. His mind was a mess from not only the implied confession, but also the sudden realisation that the feelings he had locked deep inside himself had not been one-sided, like he had always originally thought. Through the slight panic and bliss, he managed to sputter out a few incoherent words.

"You want to… me … _What_?"

Crimson eyes locked into emeralds; emeralds gazed back at crimson. And for a long while, silence. The black-haired trainer finally spoke.

"Please."

Green said nothing. He tried to look away, but the allure of those crimson eyes rendered him motionless. The teen spoke again, for the third time.

"…. Please."

Green took a deep breath and sighed, shaking his head with a smile. He reached up to the other, but froze before they touched. He was still unsure about what would happen, but all those worries dissolved when the teen leaned forwards, moving his gloved hand to press his proclaimed love's fingers against the pale skin of his neck. Green's fingertips could feel the frantic pulse of the other's heart, pounding away at his ribcage from his anxiety he had visibly tried to hide. Now with pressure there, he himself could also feel it, amplified; the trainer flushed and tried to look away.

'_How cute_,' Green thought, with a chuckle. Both arms reached up to gently rest on his shoulders as he pulled the teen down onto the sofa – more specifically, onto him.

"Of course."

On his face, Green could see a faint smile – one he had seen many times in their childhood but also the first time in years.

Thus began another phase in his life – one, now, really with _him_. They never got any farther than holding hands or kisses, but _he _never asked for any more, or did any more than that. Green secretly wanted to do more to his lover, but he was not one to force it on _him_; or more specifically, _in_ _him_.

But he figured that if he could hold back from just _touching_ _him _for so long, this could be held back as well. So Green tries to be patient and waits until the right moment.

Another twelve months pass; now it was two years since his love had disappeared, and with it, that right moment. Green could no longer take the pain he felt from being in his apartment. He packed up all his personal belongs – not that there really was that much though- and moved them to the gym. The pictures they had taken together were taken out of picture frames that were scattered all around the living room and placed into a photo book. He took that with him, too.

He tried to do what other guys did when the love of their life leaves them, but the last time he drowned his sorrows alone in bottles cheap beers and hard liquor, not only had he found himself passed out in the middle of the gym area in a pile of what _used_ to be inside him, he also had the worst hangover he has had in years. The gym could not open that day, and he was reprimanded not only by his trainers, but the gym committee as well. He never did it again.

The countless questions and climbs up Mount Silver continued, however, despite Green's growing beliefs of_ him_ being dead; or that _he _had never actually gone up the mountain at all. He desperately needed to see. To know.

And for another twelve months, his search once again resulted in nothing. No new stories about the phantom. No results in the Mount Silver climbs.

The breakthrough he was looking for finally came in the form of the ultra-ball-capped trainer. Or more specifically, the return of said trainer. After the boy bust into the gym for the second time, nearly wanting to kill the Viridian leader for not being there when he first returned, the boy began the story of his encounter with the phantom. How he had learned about the rumor, how he knew Green had known about it as well; how he had decided to venture up to see it for himself, and how he had been lucky enough to run into the phantom when the weather, for the mountain, was fairly decent.

He'd seen the barely-visible shift of expression when he had explained to the phantom about defeating _all the gyms_. How the phantom had seemed to want to say something, but remained silent. How _he_ had commanded all _his_ pokemon perfectly in that silence, and how those ghostly _crimson eyes_ had curiously watched him throughout the entire battle.

The revelation hit Green like the powerful buffets of air of the magnet train as it slows to a stop at Saffron station.

Why had Green not noticed before? The Viridian leader mentally kicked himself for forgetting something so simple, yet, to him, should have been important. He had noticed that his lover would sometimes act almost wraithlike on days he was more emotionally detached than usual. But still, that could not explain the fact that the phantom was only seen every so often, but the boy quickly answered that by pulling out a map of the mountain. Scattered around the mountain were a couple red Xs, starting from the bottom and winding up the mountain, seemingly laying out a route. Those, the boy explained, were caves in which he had been in and had found traces of campfires. He pointed to the largest X at the top – there, he said, was where he had personally encountered the trainer.

The more the boy began to talk about the experience battling this wraith, the more the descriptions matched. Green snatched up the map from the table, promising to return it as soon as he was back; he absolutely had to go see for himself. He was out the door before the boy could finish.

The map, or rather, the boy, was true to his word, each mark really did signify a cavern with the remains of burnt wood. Of course, they were not all made by one person – after all, there had been hundreds of trainers that had ventured up the mountain. Green even remembered setting up one of these camps once himself. But by rushing through the route that the marked caverns laid before him with Arcanine, despite the disorienting landscape of the snowy expanse, Green found himself at the top of the mountain within days. The frigid temperatures were indeed unforgiving, and he inwardly thanked the ultra-ball capped trainer for suggesting to him to keep a fire-type out with him at all times.

The falling snow sparkled like diamond dust as Green finally stepped foot at the peak. He dropped to the ground and rolled onto his back, falling into the soft, yet cold snow.

_Peaceful_.

Green found it easy to understand why _he – _that is, _if he_ had actually come here- would have lost track of time and eventually settled down in such an area.

The constant fall of snow had already covered all existing tracks in the area and Green does not know how long it has been since someone last passed through.

The large expanse of white, combined with the constant flutter of snow, was misleading. He could instantly understand why so many other trainers had no idea where they were on the mountain.

A sudden gust of wind whirled the snow around him, pulling a trail of white beside him and disappeared into a wall. Emerald eyes watched in confusion as another, albeit gentler gust swirled around him. Eevee and Arcanine detatched from his sides, following the swirl.

A high pitched "vee!" called Green towards the little fox, trudging towards her and stopping beside his pokemon, a wry smile on his face.

Hidden inside what seemed to be a white wall was a cave, disguised by the falling snow and behind snow-covered trees. Unless the skies were clear, or one knew the location, the cave would have been hard – and possibly impossible, considering the time other trainers spent here – to find.

Another "vee!" and Green's treasured pokemon bounded into the cave, Arcanine and Green following. The mouth of the cave glittered with frost, light bouncing off the frozen crystals in different directions. Yet the light could not manage to reach the entirety of the cave, Green noticed. 'How far does this cave go?' Green mused partly to himself, eyes squinting into the fading darkness, straining to see what was inside. On the left, half hidden in shadows was a strange pile of… something. '_Is that…_'

Green walked cautiously towards it, hands outreached, fingertips lightly brushing; touching the surface until his suspicions were correct. He grabbed one from the pile. There was a sudden soft puffing sound beside him; Arcanine's mouth had opened slightly, expelling the tiniest flare. The fire beast lowered his head, directing the little flame towards the object in Green's hand.

The cave now lit up with the light from the torch, the trio made their way deeper into the cave; a light scent of burnt pine and smoke permeating the air. The remains of a campfire sat in the centre of the cave, a stack of evenly cut logs and branches sat nearby against the wall – close enough to dry out the moisture from the wood, but far enough to keep them from also igniting if rogue sparks flew from the centre pit.

Green picked up a couple pieces from the stack, arranging it into a campfire format over the existing shadow of ashes. The emerald-eyed trainer nodded at his fire type, who blew out another puff of flame. The logs crackled under the fire, releasing their warmth.

Now that the cave had a main source of light, Green went back to exploring. Strange scorch marks were scattered around the campfire, almost all of consistent size and shape. A black pot sat between the stack of logs and the fire, edges rough along the bottom from what Green assumed was from the constant touch of flame. Along the wall on the other side was a pile of random things of different colours. Green walked over, crouching and moving his torch closer so he could get a good look.

A vine-woven basket held berries and a couple paper cartons of what looked like dried noodles. A familiar-looking backpack was tossed beside the basket, contents spilling out. Three empty pokeballs, six greats and two ultras. Green rummaged through the bag, gasping slightly when a familiar object caught his eye.

Hidden partly in the corner of the bag and between a few green spray bottles was red object with a mirrorlike finish. Nearing it, he realised that it was an original pokedex. He picked up the device, pressing the button, but the screen would not turn on. The Viridian gym leader smiled to himself; It was just like _him_ to allow something important like this to run out of battery.

But there was no sign of the _trainer_ who owned these belongings – judging from the ashes in the camp and the scent in the air, Green was pretty certain that whoever lived here had definitely not been here for a while. He sighed loudly, frustrated.

Exeggutor was called forth, its leaves rustling slightly as it shifted uncomfortably by the fire. Two large leaves were taken, one to wrap up the berries and one, dried, used as a surface to write on. Green chose his word simply, scribbling the letters on the leaf with black permanent marker that he had happened to bring along.

"_Green. "_ It would be enough.

The leaf replaced the berries in the basket. He picked up the bag, tossed the berries inside and zipped it, throwing both straps over his left shoulder. Exeggutor and Arcanine were recalled.

Returning to the mouth of the cave, Green turned once more to gaze upon the place the rumored phantom had lived. The barely visible light of the fire inside, combined with nightfall gave the space an eerie look, and Green really wondered how anyone would really ever even want to live in such a place.

But then again, if it was _him_, there was no arguing with his logic. He could never win, after all.

Pidgeot was summoned next, his tail brushing curiously in the snow. Green climbed on slowly, making sure neither the bag nor his Eevee would fall in the process. His arms gave the neck of the bird a gentle squeeze, his own signal to take to the air.

Now airborne, he turned his head to gaze at the mountain, wondering how and why all this had come to be.

It had happened randomly one day – Green had been sitting lengthwise on the sofa, his hands buried raven hair. His lover lay sideways between the gym leader's leg and the edge of the cushions, arms around his waist, right cheek resting on his chest. He shuffled slowly, allowing his crimson eyes to look up at emerald.

"Green."

Green "hmm"-ed softly, as his fingers brushing airly down the other's spine.

"I want to go to Mount Silver."

Green paused his movements, then grinned, almost wolfishly.

"Mount Silver? Sounds fun. When do you want to go?" He counted the days mentally in his head before speaking again. "Maybe this weekend or—"

"—Tomorrow. For training," the raven replied bluntly, interrupting.

Green was taken aback. _He_ had never wanted to do anything so decisively since their race to becoming the champion, so it caught him by surprise. Usual trips and events were always planned by himself – he knew that telling his companion to decide would usually result in subtle looks of indecision before a "_… Green, you decide_".

He smiled wistfully. "I know it's for training," he replied. "But I have to open the gym everyday, right?"

The brunette laughed softly before continuing. "I don't think the trainers would let me do that. Even if I tell them I'm going with _you_."

Crimson eyes stared blankly at him as Green lifted_ his_ head gently to place light kisses against the pale skin of the other trainer's jawline.

"Well, let's go on the weekend, then. I need to at least give them enough time to notify the others that I'll be gone."

He should have taken that lack of response as a warning.

The raven was up before Green was, for once, the next morning. _He_ was about to stand up at the door when the gym leader slammed his fist into the wall, causing the trainer to turn. His suspicions were correct when he glanced at the nearly overstuffed backpack on the floor by _his _side. _He_ would never go to the Indigo Plateau this early, and never with this much. There was only one place, then.

"I thought we were going on the weekend," he growled, voice shaking. His eyes narrowed as he heard the expressionless reply.

"… Can't wait that long."

"How can you not wait? It's three days. And we can stay there for longer now that I told everyone I'm going already."

The trainer remained silent. Green sighed, walking towards him, placing his arms around him; holding him close.

"Think this through." Green could hear the desperation in his own voice but he did not care. "You're going to be there by yourself if you go now, but I already said that I wanted to go with you."

He could feel the body beneath him shake, hands reaching up to gently pull themselves apart; gently push him away. The raven stood up.

"Don't go." Green sighed, arms reaching out towards him again.

Long, pale fingers tugged the brim of his cap lower to cover crimson eyes. "I'm off."

Green watched as he took three steps towards the door, opening it slowly. He paused, but did not look back. The voice that spoke again was a ghost of a whisper.

"I'm sorry."

/

Pidgeot's gentle cry caused Green to look up. The tiny lights approaching signified Viridian City. Green nodded, arms giving the feathered creature another light squeeze. A soft warble in return, and he could feel himself descending.

He recalled Pidgeot even before they touched the ground, landing in a crouch as his feet touched down in front of the gym. He glanced at the door, lit up by the light shining down from above it. No angry notes or death threats were stuck to it this time, good.

As Green rounded the corner of the building to the side door to return home, he saw what seemed to be a lump leaning against the wall. The lump seemed to have a soft texture, wrapped around what seemed to be a person.

"_Oh, great," _Green thought. _"They've changed from messages to stalking me outside my door."_

The edge of the_ extremely familiar_- looking blanket peeked over the person's head slightly, obscuring their upwards-looking face. The remainder of it was pulled tightly around their shoulders, covering their chest and their crossed legs, though Green could tell by the strange bump on their lap that something was there.

Their eyes were closed, so Green moved closer, trying not to make a noise; trying to not startle the person. Now infront of them, he could see their lips move silently.

"_Here's where my years of lip reading comes into use," _he thought, sighing as he remembered the times _he_ would speak without a sound.

"_I'm sorry."_

"_I should have known. You were… you are… so important to me."_

Apologies and confessions tumbled from those lips. Green almost struggled to keep up – he had lip read many times during_ their_ relationship, but_ he _had never spoken so fast, and never under a shadow. But right as he thought he would be overwhelmed, he heard a ghost of a voice. From then on, every so often there would be fragments of barely audible words.

"_I'm_ sorry."

"_P_lease for_give me._"

"_I love you._"

The voice he heard was weak and unstable. There was an air of familiarity to it however, one that Green was more than certain of. Suddenly, all was confirmed.

"_P_lease co_me_ back… _Green_."

"I miss you."

The emerald- eyed leader leaned forwards, hands pressing against the door to keep him from collapsing onto the seated one.

_Crimson eyes_ fluttered open slowly, snapping wide as his mind registered what was above him.

And for the first time in three years, Green heard his name in a voice he would have destroyed the world to hear again.

"Green."

Green smiled sadly, his vision growing blurry as his eyes uncontrollably began to fill with tears. His hands were preoccupied by keeping his balance on the door so the salty drops fell freely, landing on _his_ face and rolling down _his_ pale skin.

"I missed you too, _Red_."

* * *

**Embraced Unity**


	6. Embraced Unity

**Push The World Away**

_Unfortunately, I can't remember the exact words said to the protagonist by the rival during the Silph Co. part of the storyline in Pokemon FireRed/LeafGreen. Hopefully what I have written is similar to what he said. If anyone can provide to me the exact quote, that would be greatly appreciated as well._

**Embraced Unity**

The room was still dark when he woke. He sat up from the bed, slipping out from under the covers. His body shivered slightly as bare feet made contact with the wooden floor; he paused for a moment to let himself used to the strange feeling once again.

Pressing lightly onto the walls, he made his way out of the bedroom and out into the living room; his focus flittering from the empty shelves, to the blank walls, to the sofa. A hand reached towards the blinds of the window, gently pulling on them until it revealed the glass of the window and the world outside.

The sky was painted a pastel gray from the chill of the morning; the falling rain creating an almost hazy scene before him. Red sat on the floor cross legged; elbows locking his arms straight; hands splayed out behind him to prop himself up. The sleepy city outside brought to him a sort of melancholic nostalgia – despite having been gone for three years, it looked almost exactly the same as he could remember.

… Had it really been three years? He knew he had been gone for a while, but was it really for that long? Red vaguely remembered checking the date and time every so often on his pokedex – that is, when he remembered- but without the battery of it being able to be recharged up in the mountain, it had stopped working sometime past the seventh month.

He glanced at the device that now sat on the counter in the kitchen; the pale green light radiated from it, notifying its owner that it was now fully charged. His cream yellow coloured backpack sat next to the shiny red object – a sheer contrast, scuffed and dirty.

Crimson eyes shifted back to the window again. The streetlamps were still lit; soft balls of light in the fog. Shallow puddles on the street reflected that golden light, its mirror-like surface obscured by the rings created by the droplets of rain. The street signs – namely the ones of the gym, the mart and the pokemon centre glowed dully; the intensity of their light dulled and scattered as the rain fell. A gentle and constant patter enveloped him in a hypnotising pace, almost threatening to lull him back to sleep.

Red smiled – as much as he loved the views on the mountain, he had to admit he also missed these moments as well. Inwardly, he was also slightly surprised – he had thought returning to the world he had left would throw him into more of a panic, but right now; he wanted this peaceful solidarity to last forever.

And as he stared; as the rain continued to fall, Red could feel his vision beginning to unfocus; the lights outside grew blurrier and blurrier.

Crimson eyes had widened in shock when he first saw the flash of emerald the night before; the shadow of the person who stood infront of him – hands pressed against the wall, arms locking him in like a cage. His ears picked up on a voice that he would have given up his life for to hear again, and he flinched at the sudden warmth and wetness that fell onto his face.

Had he not wanted this? Had he not wished for this? Was this not who he wanted to see? What then, did he come back for?

Despite all this; despite it was _that _person in front of him, he was afraid. Pale hands rose up, still hidden beneath the blanket that was wrapped around him and he watched as his body pushed the other away. He watched himself as he picked himself up, dropping the blanket; stumbling to keep Pikachu in his arms; trying his best to keep his balance as he ran, unused to the speed of his movement. His feet slipped and slid as they changed contact from pavement to grass, nearly causing him to fall.

And try as hard as he could to stay upright, Red found himself falling forwards when he suddenly felt something slam onto his back; something strong lock tightly around his waist. They tumbled onto the grass, a tangled mess; silent except for the soft cries of their companion pokemon, asking if they were okay.

Pikachu wiggled out of Red's arms, hopping onto his shoulder where he felt another set of feet and a soft tail brush across his face. There was the sound of a soft groan as the pressure on his waist and back lifted; the sound of something shuffling on the grass. The lighter points also vanished – sets of two at a time, replaced by a hand that gripped his shoulder. It yanked him down sharply, rolling him onto his back where he once again stared into emerald orbs.

"You… why…" The voice that spoke was breathless, slightly panicked, but pained.

Under the dim light of the distant streetlamps and the shadow of night, Red could not quite make out the strange expression on the other's face. The person took a couple deep breaths before speaking again.

"Where have you been… why are you here? Why now?"

Red shook his head. "Silph Co," he replied quietly, hoping his interrogator would remember. The softening of his facial features told him that he indeed did.

"'If I stayed here to wait for you, you would show up eventually', huh," he mused. The crimson-eyed one did not answer, unsure of what to say as the chestnut-haired one collapsed entirely on top of him.

"Since when did the roles reverse…" whispered the voice, the breath of his words ticking his ear. The raven shook his head, lifting his arms slowly to embrace the body above.

"Never."

Red shifted his gaze from the other teen to the sky. The air had gotten chilly and damp, and through the dark sky, he could see ghosts of slate clouds rolling in, obscuring the luminescence of the moon.

"_We've been always waiting for each other."_

/

The room Green had moved into at the gym was too small for the both of them, so they had decided to return to the apartment. The place was still as empty as it had been when Red first arrived earlier, but they made with what was there – the blanket was thrown haphazardly on the bed; grass-and-mud covered clothes on the floor.

His reminiscing of the night before was cut short when he felt arms forcefully wrap around his shoulders; the warmth of skin against his bare back. He could feel the pounding of a heart behind him and hear the barely audible sounds of soft yet slightly panicked breaths by his side.

Chestnut locks spilled over his shoulder, and after a moment, Red felt his companion's tension loosen before he slumped completely against him.

"Green," he murmured softly, raising a hand to finger through the mess of hair.

"Don't ever leave me again," came the murmured reply.

The distant beep of the dryer announced their clothes were clean – Red noted that Green must have put them in the wash some time when he was in the bath. The raven figured he must have fallen asleep soon after that, since their clothes now sat on the top of the dryer, neatly folded. He nudged Green gently to get him off so he could go collect his clothes.

By seven, he could see that Green was completely awake. The weather had not improved at all, though the rain now fell as a light mist of fog instead. The kitchen was still empty, and despite not quite wanting to go out, he could see that both Pikachu and Eevee were already growing restless indoors. He glanced at the chestnut haired one who stood by the white lacquered steel machinery in his boxers.

"We should get something to eat, and maybe move some stuff back here, if you're going to stay again," Red heard him call, his voice accompanied by a soft "whump" sound as he straightened out his khaki cargo pants from its folded state. Red said nothing, and another, but gentler "whump" was heard as he watched him walk towards him, shirt in hand.

"Oh yeah, want to see what I've done to the gym while you're at it?" Green asked as he pulled the now clean white t-shirt over his head.

Red shrugged, but nodded. It had been a while since he was there, and he figured it would be nice to go visit. From Green's expression he could tell he had most likely done _something_ to it; and while he knew it was probably nothing good, he had to admit, he was slightly interested.

It was Green we were talking about, after all. He most likely had done something potentially outrageous that he could deem as, "cool".

After a light breakfast at a nearby café – in which Red had no memory of its existence until Green told him it had only opened after he left – the two of them headed towards the gym, entering through the back door. The raven followed the leader through the hallway towards a large steel door; what looked like an electrical panel sat beside it. He watched Green open the panel, flicking a switch before turning to him with a smile.

"Ready?"

Red raised an eyebrow when he stepped foot into the Viridian Gym. From the leader's podium, a large grid lay before him. Cyan, blue, red and orange panels glowed brightly, colour coded in the direction of which way the arrow on the panel was pointing. Titanium barriers were placed every so often to stop the direction of flow. Red assumed that would be where some of his trainers stood when there was a challenger present. Other than the brightness from the panels, and the spotlight over the podium, the overall lighting of the gym was dark.

Green raked a hand through chestnut hair and grinned widely. "You like it? It took me forever to design properly."

The raven tilted his head slightly – it was not that he _disliked_ it, but it was indeed a complete change from what it had been before. "…'s different."

"Isn't it? The old layout was getting a bit boring and so I decided to switch it up a bit."

Red simply nodded, unsure of what to say. He figured its former leader would probably run away crying again if he had seen what had happened to his gym, and smiled faintly. _That_, he admitted inwardly, he actually wanted to see.

The slight creak of the doors behind him caused the two of them to turn. Five trainers, dressed in similar outfits stood at the entrance. Red raised an eyebrow, but said nothing.

"Oh, you're here fairly early for once, boss", the first said dryly. "Or rather, the fact you're actually here is amazing."

"Good morning, boss!" Chirped the second. She cast Red a glance and waved at him slightly with a small smile.

"Your vacation over, huh," asked the third, glossing over Red with a puzzled look. "He a souvenir?"

The last two stood together, hands clasped as they looked the raven up and down. "He looks like a trainer actually, you know," the girl said. She smiled at her companion. "Trainer? Challenger?" The boy nodded. "If he's here, it's for a challenge, right?"

Green could see Red's grip on his bag strap tighten from the corner of his eye. He sighed. "I don't know about th—"

"No way, boss. He's a trainer, and he's at a gym. Challenger or no, we're gonna battle, right guys?"

The other four nodded to the first- excitement in their eyes. Well, Green supposed, they really hadn't battled anyone since the boy with the ultra-balled cap; months ago. So he glanced at Red one more time and shrugged. "Go all out. Do your best."

The battles lasted for less than five minutes each.

The evening air was clean and crisp when the two trainers left the gym for the night – the clouds had begun to disperse, leaving a velvet canvas with a luminescent full moon. While the sight was fairly common for Red, Green was awed by what he saw; a foggy ringed halo; bright and white around the night sun, fading out into a radiant soft pink before melding seamless into the sky.

The remainder of the day - after what Green's trainers called a "humiliation" was over, at least - was spent moving all of their belongings, however little and simple, back into the apartment. The photos were hung back on the walls, the clothing back into the closets.

Under the soft lights of the place they had called home, they would start again. Make up all the time they had lost, all the pain and the misunderstanding that they had both gone through. They would rebuild everything. With each other, they would be all right.

_There was no longer a need to push the world away._

_After all, their worlds were right there with them._

**_End._**

* * *

_Well, after a little under a year and a half, it's finally over. Thank you all for reading up to this point and accompanying not only Green and Red on this journey, but myself as well. I'm honoured at all the views, favourites and comments I've gotten, honestly, I'm not worthy._

_Apologies to the fairly short ending – I originally had intended the ending to be last chapter, but wanted to give a little more than just a slight insight of what would happen after their reunion. Somehow that had become an attempt to try to break in a little more subtle humor with the mention of the gym redesign from HG/SS and a little commonly seen (since I'll admit I've seen this in other fics as well) hint of a battle between Green's trainers and Red._

_I hope I'll see you all again in a [hopefully] comedic epilogue, coming up next._


End file.
